Calorimetric study on mechanically milled aluminum and multiwall carbon nanotube composites

Pure aluminum reinforced with carbon nanotube (CNT) composites have been prepared by high energy attritor milling up to 48 hrs. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) has been carried out to investigate apparent activation energy and order of the reaction between carbon nanotubes and aluminum by Kissinger equation and Crane equation under non-isothermal conditions. The DSC results clearly reveal that an exothermic reaction occurs before the melting of aluminum. The effect of milling time on the initiation of this exothermic reaction has been studied. The peak temperature of the reaction of carbon nanotubes and aluminum is found to depend on the heating rate during the continuous heating. Apparent activation energy was found to get doubled after milling for 36 hrs compared to 24 hrs milled samples. The mechanism of the reaction kinetics which depends on reaction order is instantaneous nucleation and one dimensional growth for both samples. Formation of Al4C3 was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) of as-milled powders and after performing DSC of the milled powders. Highlights: → Attritor milling used for processing Al-CNT composites. → Powder morphology as a function of time studied. → Apparent activation energy and order of the reaction calculated for Al4C3 formation. → Apparent activation energy increases two fold with increase in milling time from 24 to 36 hours.